factual

Deterministic chess program could have done otherwise

A demonstrably deterministic chess program that loses can rightly be said to 'could have castled': it consults a pseudo-random number generator and got a one rather than a zero, so flipping a single bit would have produced the other choice — this is bad luck, not a design flaw, showing that an impeccably designed agent could still have done otherwise half the time or more, with determinism intact.

factualpending

Speaker

Dan Dennett

Evidence Quote

that's what justifies saying yeah i could have done otherwise half the time or more it would have done otherwise this is just bad luck on this occasion

Source

39 - Free Will RevisitedMaking Sense with Sam Harris
Created: 6/14/2026, 2:25:04 AM

My Notes

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